A Smack in December; a Punch in the Face in ’17.

It might be mused that Steve Bannon will be a good foil as Special Assistant to the president. But he lacks an important quality. He doesn’t come across as a bootlicker.

Trump, so far, has demonstrated that he makes decisions based on how many people kiss his ass. If Bannon doesn’t learn to like the taste of shoe leather his influence will be muted.

Bannon

Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP, File via the Daily Wire

This will all be tested as the Fed unwinds the funny money to Wall Street policies in the coming months. When it happens, battle lines will be drawn.

On one side will be Priebus, McConnell, Ryan, Pelosi and Schumer. They will be stroking and kissing every inch of Trumps fragile ego. Their pleas will be for Trump to sign bailouts for the banks, insurance companies, colleges, etc.

Likely opposing will be Steve Bannon. If Trump doesn’t grow bored and/or embarrassed by the mindless adulation, Bannon’s argument and our future will circle the toilet. It should come as no surprise, as Trump already plans massive government giveaways in his first hundred days anyway.

About that whole “electoral” thing.

A few weeks back, when Trump’s position was looking especially wobbly, I saw A LOT of chatter about how we need to get rid of the electoral college. This was all coming from the right. So much for conservatives who claim to understand the Constitution.

This morning a former Attorney General, Eric Holder, said in no uncertain terms it should be ended. That this particular AG should take such a stance is no surprise.

Holder is coconspirator on the Fast and Furious con Obama ran on us, resulting in the death of Jonathan Terry, ATF. Holder understands the Constitution, but finds it inconvenient to the agenda of the radical Left.

But Trump people ought to see the company they keep on this issue. The idea behind the Electoral College (EC) is to prevent mob rule. It is part of what makes us a republic, not a fad-obsessed democracy.

The Electoral College and the states’ power to ratify amendments are the two remaining powers the federal government hasn’t stolen from us. When we vote for president, we vote as a state.

The (sound) thinking on this is that we, as citizens of our state, vote for our personal and local interests tempered by our national view. Without the EC, we are left to the whim of voters in California and New York. Without it, states with sparse populations will never be a concern for presidential politics again.

An Interesting Paradox.

Some Trump supporters, according to CBS’s Leslie Stahl, are insulting and intimidating Muslims and Latinos and making them feel unwelcome. CBS downplayed Trumps admonishment to his supporters to stop. He repeated it emphatically.

Funny, I have not heard from Barry or Hillary that Democrats, actuallylooting and burning property and beating innocent people in far greater numbers, should stop. Not a peep. You see, Clinton and her cult think it is okay to loot and burn and beat people in her holy name.

And why are they looting and burning? Well, what else? Racism, the easiest charge to level without evidence. And of course there is Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia…[1. Isn’t it cute how the “tolerant snowflakes” label everyone who disagrees, disapproves or just plain doesn’t give a shit about something, as FEARFUL of that thing? Anything shy of completely embracing their naval gazing is a phobia. And what is with this xenophobia? I watch the entire election cycle and didn’t see one xeno. To be honest, I don’t think they exist. They’re like unicorns. And who is afraid of unicorns? I suppose pretending that everyone is afraid of you makes you feel like a super hero. That’s pretty important with the trophy-for-everyone crowd.]

But isn’t Trump going to kill all the black people? Isn’t he going to make our babies suffocate from his pollution (if the dingos don’t get ‘em first)? He’s personally going to pour train cars full of chemicals into the rivers so we all DIE!

Relax.

First, the pipeline isn’t going to cause air pollution. Your world will look in 20 years very much like it does now. No one (except the Democrat city officials in Flint Michigan) will try to pollute your drinking water.

And unless you already have dogshit like the KKK or the Aryan Brotherhood tearing up your community, you’re likely not going to. Certainly there will be no one, including Trump, from DC who will turn them loose on you.

People who say things like that know they are full of it when they are saying it. It is much like the people who say Trump is a genius, or even rather bright. They know it ain’t so. But they say it anyway.

Now, if you do have sewage like the KKK in your neighborhood, you and your friends need to gut it up and put them out. Talk to your sheriff, especially if he’s elected. He’ll get the message.

The average white supremacist group isn’t that hard to put aside. They’re sort of like MS-13 without the entrepreneurial spirit, or the Nation of Islam without the snappy bow ties. And they are not Einsteins.

So, worry about what is about to happen to the economy. That is not an imaginary worry. Before the next Administration remodels the Oval office and puts the Gold T on the portico, the Fed is going to yank the rug out from under Trump. Look for that in the second quarter of this fiscal year.

Do you remember Charlie Brown in the classroom, when he says something embarrassing and as his classmates laugh, he is surrounded by the words Ha-ha-ha in giant letters across the screen?

I imagine intellectually honest Trump supporters, who are paying attention, have been feeling like CB for the last few days. “Trump tells it like it is,” we read on Facebook until our eyes bled. “He’s not a typical politician. If he says it, he’ll do it.”

But, uh-oh! He’s looking more and more like a typical politician every day.

I can’t believe I am writing this. I have been dying to get away from politics for weeks. I have woodworking and travel articles burning holes in my brain. I am supposed to be making improvements to this website as I write this.

But I did say I’d account for every I-told-you-so I happened across. And they are flying out of DC and Trump Tower almost faster than I can keep up with them.

First, as I said here, there is not going to be a wall. We are already, only six days into the transition, talking about maybe a fence and some natural barriers, but not a WALL really.

Which is fine. A wall is an ineffective way to end illegal immigration. Enforcing existing law, without a single change (which includes ending “sanctuary cities”) will sharply curtail the flow into the US. If you want someone to leave, make staying unworkable.

But, yeah. No wall. Sorry.

Don’t cry for me Arizonaaaaaaa…

We hear much ballyhoo about Trump not winning the popular vote. This has not been established. As Arizona reported, the margin shifted in his favor, only Michigan remains. If he carries Michigan, he will get a big popular bump. More on that in my next installment.

On Election Day plus one, I told you a deal would be made to protect Clinton from prosecution. At E+6 we go from, “Yeah, you’d be in jail,” to, “I don’t want to hurt these people. These are good people.”

Awwwwww, c’mon!!! Pull the other one, it plays jingle bells!

Set aside that you don’t decide to prosecute what are very serious crimes to avoid hurt feelings. Obama, in protecting himself, protected Clinton. And we have likely already seen the payoff.

This morning we hear that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has said the pipeline can go through what protestors are calling “sacred land” in Montana.

Suddenly, one of Obama’s sacred cows has been cast aside. That which he maintained through his entire presidency and could have left office with it still intact, is tossed aside without comment.

Update: It looks like Trump didn’t even get this. In the last week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has joined the mindless chorus saying that whatever “tribes” claim as sacred land is sacred land and cannot be touched. Right! The Corps is now operating like the FBI and the IRS; as goon for the governing class. They are getting through executive authoritarianism what they can’t get in the free market or real legislation.

If that’s all Trump got for the deal – he could have done it himself in two months – he is not the dealmaker he claims to be. I’ll let you in on a little secret: He’s not.

At any rate, Hillary now leaves unscathed. She and BJ Bill are now free to use the slush fund to broker political influence all over the world. And they will. We need not weep for them.

For those who are closing their eyes and shaking their heads head violently in disagreement, I’ll be back here in a few months to sadden you.

From the Land of You’ve-Got-To-Be-Kidding

I enjoyed seeing all those memes floating around with photos and lists of the dream cabinet Trump was going to pick. Lots of iron jaws and rock-ribbed conservatives, right?

Well.

I don’t recall Reince Priebus on a single list. And who is his very first pick? Tah Dah! It’s RP, himself! “Trump hates the establishment.” “The establishment is going to be sorry when Trump gets to DC.”

Reince Priebus

Oops. The ultimate establishment guy is now White House Chief of Staff.

I’m quite certain the Trump cult will counter all this with imaginary “reasons” for Trump’s pick. But they know, deep down, this is not what they voted for.

Keep calm. Good advice.

This title is emblazoned on a tee shirt my wife gave me. It’s a green shirt with a shamrock on it. You get the idea.

It is not helpful that we’ve elevated the office of POTUS to the level of royalty. It is not helpful that people who should know better, speak of the president as the one who “runs the country”. We got that ourselves, thank you very much. But we seem to have lost that sense of individual responsibility to run our lives, this nation, on our own. The president’s job is to run the Executive Branch according to the will of our elected representatives in Congress. He doesn’t “run” the country. We do. Every time we buy a pack of gum, or a house, or decide where to place our kids in school, we are running our country. That’s how the system was designed.

But it is understandable, as far as we have drifted, to see how people tend to get their panties in a bunch over who gets the brass ring every four years.

What is not understandable is how we treat each other as a result. This has been a growing problem for as long as I can remember. And it seems to have hit a new low this year.

If you are a reader here, you know I pull no punches in my politics. I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em. But I don’t treat my friends better or worse based on my assessments of the political zoo. I don’t expect them to see life as I do. I want them to. Why would I write about this silly crap if I didn’t? But the measure of friendship is NOT whom you voted for last night or who tells me they agree with me.

To Trump fans: You have practically beatified this guy. Two years ago, admit it, you saw him as a caricature of himself. You cringed as everyone else did when he would make appearances at “professional wrestling” events. But now he is your man. I see a lot of mindless crowing out there today. Celebrating is one thing. But getting in your friends faces over election returns marks you as shallow and not very bright. Take a page from your guy. His speech last night was about as classy as I have seen him. Try a bit of that yourselves.

Hillary and Obama fans: I offer you similar advice. In the last two hours we saw both of them speak optimistically about what we need to do in the coming months and years. They threw their support behind Trump. Will they cheer his every move from the sidelines for the next eight years? Hell, no. But they are also not saying if you voted Republican you are an enemy of the state.

There are people out there losing friends right now. Take heart. If someone cuts ties with you because of your political beliefs, you have lost nothing. Their friendship was a lie. They were not your friends. Don’t worry too much about it. If they come back, let them earn your friendship, should they wish to do so. In the meantime, you can take the high road. In your circle of people, let them know you are still going to keep them with you based on the quality they bring to your life, not whether they are as freaky for your candidate as you are.

More than friends are being lost as we speak. Already people are out protesting violently. People are rioting and assaulting individuals. While many were surprised by a Trump victory, the psychotically immature reaction of many as a result of such an outcome was far from predictable. If you look at the behavior of people over the last two years pretending to be upset over thugs correctly being put down by police (there have been bad shoots and the cops involved are being dealt with) it isn’t a stretch to see the same people committing acts of vandalism, violence and theft, while complaining about how awful the Donald is. I know, the irony is so thick it makes you gag. But the behavior has become the new norm. One writer in particular, The Unablogger, nailed it as the primaries were winding down. See his call here.

For everyone: We will not be living like Mad Max by next week. Nor will we be living in a utopia. We will be living as we do now. Can the future bring opportunities to correct what is wrong? Sure! Will we screw up again, from time to time? Absolutely. What in the hell does that have to do with who we go to ballgames with or who we hang out with at social events?

A little side note:

Hanging out with people who don’t think like you makes you smarter. That’s a fact. You can look it up. Living in an echo chamber dulls the mind and gives you a myopic worldview. That’s why I am always asking my liberal friends to do some counter-point stuff here. So far, no takers. I’d offer to pay them, but this is still a free site.

A ridiculous side note:

I swear, I am not making this up. As I wrote this I was getting FB notifications. I ignored most. But I noticed a family member had popped up. I always look at her posts. She was quite upset by last night’s results for a very specific reason. I told her not to worry too much and told her that she had the only tools to deal with this new Trump world as she saw it. That was considered an attack. It didn’t fit into their interpretation of last night’s events. I am guessing their assumption was that I must be a Trump supporter and therefore a racist and a misogynist. Clearly, they don’t read my stuff. Anyway, this election, and my outright gall to speak of it in the context of offering alternative views, has cost me a chunk of family and a wedding invitation – at least for the time being.